Hitman: Blood Money Review

Synopsis

The idea behind the Hitman series has always been very simple. The player is tasked with killing one or several people, and it is up to the player to decide how he/she wants to accomplish the mission. Stealth, as always, is stressed, because if you are detected, the harder it will be to complete the task at hand. Although the objective might sound simple, there can be several ways to carryout the mission, all in the players hands to decide. Will you go in guns blazing, leave no witnesses, and slay as many as possible to get to the target? Or will you disguise yourself and sneak in undetected, eliminate the target, an escape without anybody even knowing you were there? The choice is yours.

Story

There is no deep, entrancing story in Hitman: Blood Money. All you need to know is that your name is Agent 47, or Mr. 47. You have no name, you dont go by anything, except 47. You are a clone made from the ICA ( International Contract Agency ) and you were trained to be a killer, and nothing more.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Hitman: Blood Money is definitely stealth-orientated. You start outside an area, and are briefed on who your target is. Your told where the person might be, and what they will look like. Thats it. The rest is up to the player to accomplish. This is excellent for a hard core gamer like me. There's great challenge in Hitman, but it is not too difficult to the extent of controller-throwing rage. For a casual gamer though, it might be a little intimidating at first. On the harder difficulties, theres very little-to-no mercy/guidance. A casual gamer will get adjusted, it just might take longer than another gamer. If you were to take a stealthy approach to the situation at hand, Agent 47 has a wide array of skills up his sleeve to make sneaking pretty easy. 47 can take anyones clothes and disguise himself as that person. Need to get past a security checkpoint? Lure a guard away, choke him out, steal his clothes, and walk through the checkpoint pretending to be a that guard. A big part of Hitman's gameplay is deceiving your opponent. If you have to steal ten sets of clothes to get to your target, then so be it. Thats what has to be done. Now, if your the impatient type and just like to go guns blazing, it is possible.
You can take a pistol or a machine gun and clear out the whole level, leaving no one to escape, but where is the fun in that? But hey, its all based on personal preference.

Graphics

Graphics in Hitman: Blood Money are good for the time the game was released. There are texture pop-ins, awkward coloring in some places, and some ugly character models, but I am comparing this to the games of today. Back in 2006, this game would have been praised as beautiful. Do not mistake, the game looks very good, but can not compete with current games graphics.

Controls

Controls in Hitman are pretty good. Theres no clunky feel to them, but it is different from the standard CoD controls of hold LT to aim and RT to shoot. Most of the main buttons ( A B X Y ) are mapped to performing certain tasks. A little getting used to, but once your adjusted, you'll be a perfect assassin in no time.

Gameplay Video

The Final Verdict

I'm awarding Hitman: Blood Money an 8.5/10. Not only is it a great game with alot of fun to be had, the Hitman series really was one of the first game series to give players a real choice to about how they want to accomplish their goals.